It is a typical afternoon in Cherokee Point Park in City Heights. The school kids are blowing off after-school steam, the dog owners are getting in their pre-dinner walks, and neighborhood mover-and-shaker Patty Saenz is not playing around.

“I don’t understand why they won’t open these bathrooms during the day,” Saenz wondered, looking toward the brick structure that remains locked even while the park is in full swing. “All these kids and no bathrooms. It makes no sense.”

It is a sunny day and Saenz is not supposed to be worrying about bathrooms. She is supposed to be talking about the promise of City Heights and the way her potential has expanded right along with it.

But Saenz can’t let a fix-it opportunity pass her by. As a member of the Environmental Health Coalition and the co-founder of an EHC community action team, Saenz has picked up trash, lobbied local politicians, worked on improving disabled access and helped neighbors deal with mold, lead and other environmental problems. Because City Heights is home, and home is where this activist’s heart is.

“I love where I live and I’m proud of where I live,” Saenz said, as her 6-year-old daughter Sofia scrambled over the climbing structure. “I truly believe that we are the next up-and-coming neighborhood, and I love being with people who want to see things changed and know we were the ones who made it happen.”

Born in San Diego, Saenz grew up in and around City Heights. She graduated from Crawford High School, attended San Diego City College and Grossmont College and ended up working for Guardian Life Insurance, where she is a professional assistant to a financial adviser. The activist chapter of her life kicked off just a few blocks from this playground.

It was 2009, and Saenz and her family — husband Sergio Gonzalez and Sofia — had moved into a rental house in City Heights. Because the house was built before 1979, Sofia’s doctor recommended they have the house tested for lead. It had plenty.

For help, Saenz turned to the Environmental Health Coalition, a 33-year-old advocacy group focused on health and safety issues facing San Diego and Tijuana neighborhoods. An EHC rep helped Saenz navigate the city’s lead-abatement program. Within a few months, the family had a safer house, and Saenz had a cause.

“Part of it was the spirit of advocacy I learned from all of the other autism moms I know. Everyone in that community has a spirit of paying it forward,” the 36-year-old Saenz said of the parents she met after Sofia was diagnosed with autism four year ago. “I think I was only the second person in City Heights to call about lead abatement, and I thought, ‘Someone needs to bring this to the forefront.’ ”

When Saenz moves, she moves fast. In short order, she enrolled in the EHC’s community leadership training program, graduated and formed a neighborhood community-action team to tackle everything from litter and broken streetlights to lead- and mold-related issues. She holds bilingual workshops on environmental issues and meets with local politicians about safety and transportation concerns.